


Fire and Water

by thePetetoherPatrick



Series: Wolves and Magick [3]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: I recommend reading When the Wolf Howls first, Michael's POV, Mild Sexual Content, Multi, i'll add tags if I need to but I think i've about covered the basics, just don't have it in me for this one, just saying, magick and stuff, no smut this time round I don't think, supernatural beings au, tagged explicit for violence and such, too many supernaturals to tag them all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-06-01 11:27:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6516643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thePetetoherPatrick/pseuds/thePetetoherPatrick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael is an Alpha now, Gavin is a Witch in training, they are together now...they honestly don't need anymore new stuff to deal with but where is the fun in that.....</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Burnie's Rules

I sit on the couch with my head between my hands, Nightshade and Lloyd sit on the coffee table watching me. ‘Shade reaches out and puts her tiny paw on my knee. “What do you want?” I ask quietly. 

I hear the shower stop finally and see Gavin pad from the bathroom to the bedroom in just his towel. Lloyd hops off the table and goes out to the kitchen while ‘Shade jumps into my lap and balances herself there precariously, headbutting my chin and rubbing against my arms. I kiss the top of her head and stroke her silky black fur.

Gav comes out with his hair a mess, unshaven, and wearing shorts and a dorky shirt as usual. “You ready to go then?” He nods happily, we head out and he grabs his water bottle on the way out. It’s a bright turquoise colour with little silver whales and starfish all up the side of it and he started carrying it around everywhere about a week ago. “I never asked you what was with that damn bottle.” 

He looks from it to me. “Well you know Ryan was teaching me water magic.” He says and he’s right, I was confused at first but it’s easier that someone with patience teaches him. “Well Jack was getting upset that I kept using disposable water bottles and just throwing them out so he went and got me this. I think it’s cute and I kind of like it.” He says setting it in the cup holder of the car. 

“I see, yeah it is kinda cute.” I chuckle and shake my head, sounds like Jack. Being half Fae he gets concerned about stuff like that and gets kind of ornery about it, says Magick shouldn’t be wasteful because it’s meant to work with the Earth and I honestly can’t bring myself to disagree with him. “You said Ryan was teaching you? As in he’s not anymore? What did you do?” 

“Nothing, but he’s not actually attuned to water so it’s not as though it’s easy for him to teach me, anything else I need to learn, be it elemental magick or just general energy magick you can teach me.” He says as we pull into the parking lot at work. “I know you’re busy with the new Pack so it’s fine, I’ve just been practicing.” 

“Yeah I saw the snowman on Geoff’s desk, when did you make that?” I laugh at the memory of it, I’d tried to pick it up but Geoff growled at me and told me to get the fuck away from it so I’d backed off and left it alone. 

“About two days ago now I guess.” He says, “I wonder if it’s still there.” 

“It should be, if not Geoff might get you to make another one.” I shake my head, climbing out of the car. “I think he likes that little thing.” We get into the office and I pat Gav on the shoulder. “Alright buddy, I’ve got a meeting with the Pack today so I’ll see you probably around lunch.” He kisses me on the cheek and smiles as I take off. 

I walk into the one meeting room in the building that was officially dubbed the place for all Supernatural crap to be discussed and dealt with. People had started to just get used to us but they still didn’t always need to know everything. Miles, Gus, Geoff and Ray are already all sitting around the table. They look up at me as I walk in and I freeze. I shake it off after a second when they just continue to watch me. 

“Alright guys, Burnie has requested I set out some rules and boundaries or whatever.” I sit at the only available seat at the head of the table reluctantly. “He had some specific requests but kind of left some of it to me to figure out because he’s not really familiar with everything about Wolves.” Ray smiles at me and I roll my eyes, I just know he’s gonna be a little shit if he can. 

“Firstly, he’s aware that our clothes don’t exactly cooperate when we change forms but he, under zero circumstances, does not ever want to see any of us naked so changing forms at work is gonna be a no-go unless absolutely necessary in the case of a threat or emergency.” 

I look at each of them as they nod, seeing the sense in it. “That being said though he does want to get a picture of each of us in our Wolf forms so people can learn to differentiate us even when we aren’t human.” Gus makes a face at that. “It’s kind of for our safety and so they know who is who because unlike us they can’t tell just by looking, they haven’t learned who is what colour yet.” 

“Sounds fair I guess.” Geoff mutters, Gus shrugs. “Though I don’t think any of us but you knows what we look like, we haven’t tried shifting yet.” 

“No, we haven’t which is why I said wear pants you don’t care about and bring a spare pair.” I stand up again and gesture to my ratty sweatpants, having taken to leaving clothes here. “That brings me to the next thing, Burnie has taken it upon himself to stash a whole bunch of very large blankets everywhere so that we can cover up before shifting back, if we ever have to shift here.” I shake my head at the memory of him telling me this. I wasn’t surprised honestly but it was still kind of one of those things I didn’t expect. “And lastly, he’s aware that while we do have functioning human minds while we are Wolves but we do still have the Wolf instinct to hunt, he’s stated quite clearly that if he finds any of our kills he will make the person who left it out and about wear a sparkly pink collar for the rest of the week and trust me, he will do it. Any questions?” 

They sit there quietly, contemplating carefully, before each of them shakes their head. I nod and stand up. “Okay then, grab your spare pants and follow me.”


	2. Shifting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wolves.....you finally get to see more wolves.....

We stand outside in the parking lot, hidden from the road yet still pretty out in the open. Burnie holds a pile of the large blankets he got for us, and our spare pants. While Ryan holds one of the office’s cameras. He was the first person Burnie managed to convince to help us out. 

“Alright, I think it’ll be easier, for both us and Ryan, if we do this one at a time.” I say and motion for someone to give it a shot. Geoff looks at the others and shakes his head before stepping forward. He shucks his shirt and gives it to me. Ryan takes a picture of him while he’s still human as a reference. It’s not that we don’t have plenty of pictures of all of us but it helps him remember who is who when taking the pictures off the camera and making sure each picture is up to date. 

“Alright fucker, how am I supposed to do this?” He huffs, fidgeting with his shorts. 

“Take a deep breath and clear your mind, then you just let the Wolf come tearing through.” I say, remembering my first time. “It’ll hurt a bit the first few times, but your whole body is reshaping so it’s kinda understandable.”

He gives me a mildly nervous look before shaking his head and looking towards the sky. He takes a couple of deep and steady breaths before his body arches and then changes so rapidly it’s hard for the eye to follow. In a second Geoff is gone and a large black Wolf stands before us looking more than a little disoriented. The fur of it’s muzzle is graying and the silver fur continues down it’s chest. Ryan takes a picture, making sure to keep a careful distance around Geoff so as not to startle him. 

Burnie sets the pile of blankets down and, taking one from the top, he steps close to Geoff. He makes sure to stay where he can easily be seen. “Ok now to change back it’s the same but you have to pull it back. It’ll hurt just as much as changing into the Wolf.” I say, sighing and wishing it’d be easier on them.

He glances at me, his shoulders rise and fall in what I’d have to equate to a sigh. Burnie wraps the blanket around Geoff. He closes his eyes and goes through the process again. This time once he changes he’s kneeling on the ground drenched in sweat, hard breathes wracking through his body. He clings to the blanket around him. He doesn’t stand up, he just half crawls off to the side and sits in his blanket by Ryan’s feet, momentarily leaning into Ryan’s leg. Ryan smiles and waits for him to sit back up, obviously not really caring if Geoff needs him for support for a minute. 

I look to the others, and to my surprise Gus is the one who steps forward. I give Geoff his shirt back for him to hold onto, and Gus gives him his too. Geoff just nods, staying quiet and holding onto the shirts with no complaint. 

I turn to Gus as Ryan finishes taking the human picture of him. I nod for him to copy what Geoff did. He struggles with it for a minute but not long enough for me to worry. He’s smaller than Geoff, actually he’s smaller than me too. At first glance Gus’ fur looks black but as the sun hits it you can see that it’s actually a really dark brown. He too has silvery fur from his age, but his dusts the top of his head and trails down his back. Ryan moves to take a picture but Gus backs up, still dazed and now unsure about Ryan. Rye stills for a second, holding up the camera and waiting for Gus to calm, before he takes the picture. Burnie is there only a second later with Gus’ blanket. He sits Gus beside Geoff. 

I look at Ray and Miles, they seem extremely unsure about all of this. I shake my head and step forward myself. Their eyes go wide and I realize that only three people here have seen me as a Wolf that I know of. I pull my shirt over my head and Geoff holds out his hand to take it for me. Ryan takes a picture of me without me really seeing till he steps back again to let Geoff lean on his leg. He nods and I take that as the go ahead. I clear my head and pull the Wolf out of it’s depths, like opening a cage, and let it take me. In the time it takes to blink I feel the tell tale tingle run through my back as it arches and then I’m looking at massive white paws where my hands should be. I’m an oddly coloured Wolf, even my family thought so. Most of my fur is the same colour as my hair when I’m human, a kind of mahogany red-brown depending on the light. But I have white “socks”, as my mother always called them, from the knee down it fades to pure white. 

I see Ryan move and I freeze, I know what he’s doing and I’m used to the Wolf so it doesn’t bother me as much as the others. Burnie comes toward me with a blanket and I let him wrap it around me before I shift back. I stand up and shift the blanket to wrap it around my waist, freeing my hands. I motion for one of the others to go next. Ray looks at me for a long minute before he steps forward. He ditches his X-Ray t-shirt and stands there. For a minute nothing happens and he looks at me. I give him an encouraging look but still nothing happens. He looks like he’s starting to get frustrated so I place a hand on his shoulder. 

“Getting worked up won’t help, you have to clear your head and just focus on wanting to be a Wolf, let it out.” I say trying to think of what could help him with this. 

He nods and goes back to trying to focus but still nothing happens. I shake my head and remember what happened with my cousin. Her mind wasn’t capable of clearing well enough the first time so we had to scare her, after that she was fine. I move where Ray can’t see me and he doesn’t seem to notice. I decide to just go for it and hope it works. I growl loudly behind him and he jumps. Mid-jump the shift takes over and he lands on four paws. He spins on me and gives me a “what the fuck asshole?” look, to which I simply smile and shrug. Ryan chuckles as he takes the second picture of Ray. I take the blanket from Burnie and wrap it around Ray myself. He shifts back and sit there staring up at me. 

“Asshole.” He mutters, before moving to join Geoff and Gus. 

“Ok Miles, it’s now or never, just go for it, you’ll be fine.” I say ushering him forward. He complies, looking less nervous than he did before Ray shifted. He gives me his t-shirt and waits for Ryan to be done before closing his eyes and shifting as easily as me or Geoff. He looks up at me and I smile, running a steady hand through his sandy blonde fur when Ryan has finished taking the picture he needs. 

“Ok that’s it.” Ryan says turning the camera off. “I get those sent so you, Burnie.” 

Burnie nods and we work on giving everyone their shirts back and head inside all wrapped in our blankets. Bathrooms and empty offices or conference rooms become change rooms so we can all get dressed and presentable in peace. I step out of the bathroom to find Ray waiting for me. 

“Why did you do that to me earlier?” he asks frowning at me. 

“You were stuck, it’s not uncommon. You couldn’t clear your mind quite enough to shift. It happened to my cousin and when you get startled your mind blanks out for a second, that’s all it takes to shift.” I sigh and fold up the blanket I’m holding. “Now that you’ve shifted once it’ll be easier to do it again, you don’t have to worry about that happening again.” 

He deflates a little, any anger leaving his face. “Oh, well thanks then.” he looks at the ground and then turns and heads back to the Achievement Hunter office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took so long to post this, I've been working straight midnight shifts and will be for a few more weeks but I plan to try and cram more writing in between work and sleep. I have been working on other pieces at work but this one has too much background for me to store it all on my phone to work on so I have to do it at home. Should be posting more soon though. For those of you that will read it a new Peterick is coming soon, I don't know quite when but I've started work on it so look forward to that.


	3. Lil J

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael does some magick, and they meet a new person

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I seem like an unproductive piece of shit, and I honestly probably am, BUT I have not been doing nothing even though I haven't posted in forever. Oh nononono don't underestimate me...prepare yourselves because I have a bunch of chapters to dump on you ^-^ I've been doing writing at work and have at last transferred all I did from my phone to my computer for posting. I won't post everything I did but a few chapters at least to make up for the serious lack of activity around here should suffice don't you think?

I stand in the kitchen reading through directions messily jotted in my grimoire. Nightshade sits on the counter watching me chop up rosemary and garlic. She paws playfully at an extra clove of garlic sitting on the counter. She bats it towards me and I flick it back at her without even looking up from my work. Gavin pads out of the bedroom in just his pajama pants, his hair sticking up at an odd angle. 

“Morning sleepyhead.” I smile and pull the bowl of sea salt away just as ‘Shade tries to stick her paw in it. I glare at her and she sets her paw down. 

“Morning boi.” He says laughing at Nightshade and scratching between her ears. She leans into his hand. “Morning kitten.” He says affectionately. 

I put the rosemary and garlic in the bowl with the salt and stir it together with my hand. Gav watches me curiously. “What in the bloody hell are you doing boi?” he says, his voice rough. 

“Working on a spell, I refresh it every couple months.” I say before picking up my charged moonstone and reading the incantation from my grimoire. 

He waits for me to finish before saying anything else. “What’s it do?” 

“Protects this apartment and everything in it from negative energy, that includes us while we are in here.” I walk over to the windows and start sprinkling the mixture outside the windowsill. He follows me and watches what I’m doing attentively. 

“Sounds top.” He opens the next window for me. We do all the windows, the door to the balcony and the front door. “What are we doing today?” he asks before flopping onto the couch. Nightshade and Lloyd are immediately in his lap. 

“Geoff, Lindsay, Ray, and some new guy are coming over for game night tonight.” I sit beside him, shoving Lloyd out of the way.

“New guy?” he asks cocking an eyebrow. 

“Yeah, apparently Geoff hired some new guy. Linds says he’s completely human for sure.” I tuck my feet under me. “Geoff says he’s alright, Apparently he’s from Boston or something. We are getting another new employee too, from Canada or something. Haven’t heard much about the one though but Barb is excited about it.” 

“Huh, when do they start in the office?” he pets ‘Shade as she curls up in his lap, the damn traitor purring up a storm. 

“Monday, the guy that’s coming here tonight is gonna be working with like Kerry and those guys but Geoff says there’s a big surprise with this other one.” I remember the stupid look on his face as he was telling me.

“Well I can’t wait to see what it is.” he says quietly, leaning over to cuddle into me, still petting the cat. 

~~~~~

Gavin goes to answer the door while I pull take out from bags. We just got back and not a moment too soon apparently. Geoff walks with a group trailing behind him. Lindsay sets a box of cupcakes on the counter with a big smile on her face. Ray grins at me and then starts talking to Gav about something. The last person is a short but built looking guy. He’s got a beard to frame his round jaw. He looks like he could kick ass but his eyes and expression confuse me a little. He looks so innocent, friendly, and open. His eyes are wide and happy. He spots me in the kitchen with the food and makes his way over. 

“Hey, I’m Jeremy. That guy has the british accent so I’m assuming you are Michael.” he says in a tone that’s far too chipper for me. I nod courteously and go back to unloading food. “Geoff said we were going to Gavin and Michael’s place and I was kinda unsure because you’re usually a pretty angry dude in videos but you seem alright.” 

“It’s still early yet but I’m not usually too angry unless provoked either by a game or Gav being a jackass while playing games.” I hand him some of the food and point to the coffee table. He seems to get the idea and carries them over while I grab the rest and some plates. So this is the guy from Boston. He might be okay I guess. 

“So Little J, you’ve met Michael I see, this is his other half Gavin.” Geoff says and my eyes almost bug out of my head, that’s great just tell the new guy we’re together why don’t you. 

‘Little J’, however, doesn’t even skip a beat. He sets down the food and smiles at Gavin. “Nice to meet you.” he shakes Gav’s hand. Gav looks a little distressed at Geoff too but Geoff pays him no attention. Jeremy seems to notice though, but doesn’t say anything. Nightshade makes an appearance to paw at Jeremy, demanding his attention so she can figure out who he is. He reaches down and scratches between her ears. 

We dish out food and my living room suddenly becomes cluttered with bodies. Lindsay, Ray, Jeremy and I sit on the floor around the coffee table but Lindsay and Ray are sorta stretched out. Gavin and Geoff sit on the couch. 

“So you gonna fill us in on whatever this big surprise is? Or do we have to wait till Monday?” I ask between bites of food. 

“You absolutely have to wait, Lindsay is the only person other than me and Jack that knows and that’s cause she needs to.” Geoff says grinning at me around another bite. I roll my eyes and shake my head. Of course. I look at Lindsay and she just smiles at me with this blatant ‘I ain’t telling you shit’ look on her face. 

We finish dinner with multiple discussions going on at once. I, however, don’t really listen to any of them. When we finish Lindsay helps me clean everything up while the others argue about what game we should play. I watch Jeremy as he very animatedly tries to convince Gavin that he’s wrong about something. 

“Why does Geoff call him Lil J?” I ask Lindsay as she hands me a dish to put away. 

“Cause he’s little and his name is Jeremy.” she gives me a ‘duh’ look and rolls her eyes. 

“Yeah but I mean, like, why the nickname?” I put each dish she hands me in the cupboard. 

“Oh, that, I don’t actually know. Cause he can I guess. He thinks it’s funny.” she shrugs and hands me another dish. I put it away and shrug too.


	4. Rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another new person....

I flop down in the chair at my desk and notice something has changed in the office. I turn around and look. There are two new desks. I examine the stuff on the tops of the desks. One's got a DS and some assorted nerd stuff, and the stupid little penguin statue I bought Lindsay a while a go. The more I look at the desk the more it screams Lindsay. That's fine, weird but ok. 

The other desk has a sketchbook, pens and pencils, a stack of CDs I can't discern the contents of from here, and a little Canadian flag. The new person. It has to be. I get up and move to look at the desk a little better. It's neat for the most part with the exception of the open sketchbook and pencils. I look at the drawing. It's a detailed drawing of my X-Ray and Vav character Mogar. He looks terrifying but almost handsome. 

I suddenly get the feeling I'm being watched and turn around to come face to face with a woman. I jump a foot and stumble away from her. I take in what I'm seeing. She's taller than me, and as tattooed as Geoff at least. She's got long brown hair that's got a red hue to it. Her gold-brown eyes study me. She's wearing all black, skinny jeans and a ripped up band shirt but I don't recognize the band logo. She also has cat ears. Real, honest-to-god cat ears on top of her head that twitch in irritation. She's got a long, sleek tail too. They're both the same colour as her hair. She's carrying an Xbox and I realize I'm probably in her way so I step to the side and sure enough she sets it on the desk I was just checking out. She ignores me entirely and starts hooking it up. She works quickly and seems to know what she's doing.

The guys all walk in and, other than Geoff, they stop dead. Geoff rolls his eyes and approaches her. Lindsay pushes past the guys blocking door. She goes to her desk and starts doing whatever with her computer. 

"So, Geoff...?" Ryan says in a concerned tone. 

"Yes, Ryan?" He looks up from watching the new girl.

"Wanna tell us what's going on?" He asks tentatively.

"Oh, right, I forgot." He grins. "We've got the Lads and the Gents but I'd like to introduce to you our new team the Ladies. There's only two of them but that's cause most games have an eight player limit, though I'm sure the two of them can best all six of us combined so it won't be an issue." He smiles widely, clearly proud of himself.

The guys just kinda stand there, unsure of what to do or say. 

"You all know Lindsay and are familiar with her but we've got someone new. Lindsay and Barb helped me find her and I think you're all gonna like her. This is Rose." He gestures to the cat girl who looks up from her computer at the sound of her name. "She's half cat-hybrid, half witch I believe, for any concerned Supernaturals, for the most part she's harmless I'm told, unless of course you are allergic to cats." She doesn't deny or confirm her harmlessness but simply goes back to her computer. Lindsay makes a noise and catches her attention, giving her a look that makes her smile. Everyone looks at each other before going to their desks. 

Gavin walks over to Rose though. He offers his hand. "Hi, I'm Gavin." He smiles warmly, he likes cats so it's no surprise he's instantly attracted to her. I frown at that thought. She doesn't take his hand simply nods and smiles.

"Yeah I know." Her voice isn't loud but has strength behind it. She doesn't acknowledge him beyond that. He kind of deflates and goes to his desk. 

"Alright you fucks, we are doing a Minecraft Let's Play today and boy oh boy do we have something in store for you." Geoff laughs. "You girls set up yet?" He gets a twin chorus of yes from them. "Let's get going then."

~~~~~

We finish the recording and I've learned some things. The fans are going to love Rose. She teamed up with Ryan upon realizing they are a lot alike in their manner of tactics. She's also very good at playing this game. Her gamertag makes no sense to me but then when do gamertags ever make sense. AlternativeAngel. Upon asking where it came from she simply said she'd had it for a long time and didn't plan on changing it at all. 

Barb walks in with a bottle of water and a coffee. She gives the coffee to Lindsay and the water to Rose. She sits in Rose's lap easily and Rose doesn't protest at all. The three of them start talking quietly and laughing amongst themselves. Gav watches them, I can tell he wants to try to be Rose's friend. He tried to join teams with her and Ryan while we were playing but she was unimpressed by his shenanigans and Ryan quickly ended that. Gav was put out by it because usually the Mad King is fond of his Jester but today he didn't seem as impressed. Ray passed a joke about Rose being the Mad Queen or Mad Princess or something. Geoff and Jack laughed while Ryan shrugged and said something about every King needing help running his kingdom, even the Mad ones. The fans will eat that up I'm sure. They will no doubt decide what she'll be called. 

I look at Ray and notice him watching her. He seems intrigued to say the least. I roll my eyes at him but he doesn't see. I turn and watch her as well, trying to recall what I know about cat-hybrids. No one knows how they came to exist though there are some unsavory theories. My best guess would be a spell or a curse of some sort. Even they themselves don't know but they do firmly believe there was no animal nastiness going on. They tend to separate themselves from normal cats, saying they are more human than cat, even taking cats as pets. I've seen them swim, so I'd wager they have no aversion to water. She doesn't seem to be bothered by the scent of so many Werewolves in one room. She clearly has no issue with demons as she seems almost fond of Ryan already. I turn back to my computer. Gav pokes at my arm.

"Hey boi, wanna get some lunch?" He asks quietly. Geoff looks up at that though. 

"Why don't we all go out for lunch?" He asks. There's a resounding yes from around the room. Even Barb likes the idea. Gav shrugs, he just wants to eat. We divide up in two cars as there's no way all nine of us will fit in one. Geoff takes Jack, Ray, Lindsay and Barb. I end up with Gavin, Ryan, and Rose. We pile in and end up going for burritos, something Rose has apparently never had.


	5. Weetabix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin finally gets through to Rose and wins an old argument once and for all....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a very long chapter I know but I couldn't resist, not on ounce of this is bullshit because let me tell you something....my dad actually DOES work for Weetabix....I love that cereal intensely and that argument was always hilarious to me. If you disagree...I don't care.

Gav and I walk into the office to find everyone has dispersed today. Rose is the only one there and she's eating breakfast, I can't figure out what it is but Gav seems to know. He gets real excited. 

"Where on earth did you get Weetabix?" He asks and I look again.

"Oh you cannot be serious, that's an actual thing? I seriously thought you were talking crazy during that video." I shake my head. So Weetabix is real, who knew.

She glares at me and turn to acknowledge Gav. "My parents sent it, dad makes the stuff, he works for Weetabix." She holds the box up to him. He takes it and she points to another bowl and the milk. He happy gets himself a bowl. "Haven't been able to have any since you got here?" 

"No, no one here has heard of it and they don't sell it anywhere that I've found." He digs in. I smile, he seems happy to be talking to her and that she's got this weird cereal. 

I look over his shoulder. It does in fact seem to be some kind of wheat biscuit. I look at the box and it does say Weetabix. 

"Alright, your dad works for them. What in the hell does Weetabix mean?" I ask, deciding if anyone could answer that it'd likely be her. 

"Wheat biscuit." She says sounding amused, clearly she's heard the argument we all had about it.

"Is it actually?" I sigh and she nods. I can't help but laugh.

"Try some." She pushes the box my way and Gav gives me his now empty bowl.

"Thought you didn't drink the milk." I say.

"I don't usually but I couldn't give you the bowl if I didn't and I ate it fast enough there wasn't too much mushy stuff." He shrugs. I look at the box skeptically. I open it and the biscuits are wrapped in two sleeves. One is open so I take a couple from that one. Gav hands me the milk but I just look at it. How do you judge how much milk you need for this stuff. Rose sees my struggle and takes the milk and bowl from me. She adds what she thinks is right and then proceeds to add sprinkle of sugar to it. 

"It's kinda not right without the sugar." She shrugs and hands me the bowl back. I look at it. "Don't let it sit too long or you'll have soupy mush." At the thought of that I dig in. It's not bad. The sugar makes it almost taste like sweet coffee. I shrug and finish the contents of the bowl. When I get to the bottom and drink the milk I suddenly see why Gavin doesn't like to drink the milk. I make a face at the slimy feeling of the leftovers going down my throat. No, definitely don't blame him there, that's not right. Rose laughs at me a takes the bowls to the kitchen.   
"Well it's not bad but I think I get your milk issue now." I tell Gav, he grins widely and rolls his eyes.

"What the fuck is that?" I hear Ryan's voice behind us and turn to see him looking at the box of cereal. "You've Got to be kidding me! It's real?" He gapes. The others walk in.

"What is?" Geoff asks. 

"Fucking Weetabix!" Ryan says and Geoff gives him a look of disbelief until he points at the box.

"Oh for fuck sakes." Geoff throws his hands up. "Gavin wasn't crazy yet again. This is the Pubert Addams thing all over again."

I sit there and laugh as they all take in the realization that Gavin is right more than we'd like to admit.


	6. Yarn and Other Unwanted Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They are all just having a hell of a day...

"Fuck!" I hear a distressed cry from around the corner. I pick up my pace to see Rose standing there indignantly trying to get her tail out of the tangled mess of yarn some cruel asshole tied it up in while she wasn't paying attention. "Goddammit, you've got to be fucking kidding me. I swear to god if this pulls fur out..." she growls, trailing off into a yelp as part of the mess tightens as she tries to escape. 

I move toward her and pull out my pocket knife. She looks a little scared but doesn't tell me not to so I set to work cutting any loops loose enough to get at without hurting her. Once I've cut a few the mess starts to fall apart and she's easily freed. 

"You gotta look out, people around here like to play pranks. They don't usually mean to be mean and are generally harmless jokes but you're something they aren't familiar with. They probably didn't know it would hurt you to do that." I sigh putting my knife away and picking up the yarn.

"Yeah well had any of that tightened when I moved to fast it could have broke my tail. The bones aren't real strong." She watches me, clearly still distressed. People who don't understand things like that are dangerous to her and can do a lot of damage. 

"Do you want me to get Geoff? You're gonna have to let him know what happened anyway, just in case it happens again but maybe we can get him to find some info on your kind and have it around the office for any jerkoffs who don't know much." I say, not realizing my Jersey accent slips into my words till it's too late. She just smiles at the sound. 

"I guess that'd probably be best but where is he?" She looks around the office. 

"I think him and Jack are talking to Meg about some project." I shrug. "I'll go find him."

"No it can wait till he comes back, it's not likely to happen again today. Or at least I hope it's not." She says. I nod and settle into my desk chair. 

"Well I've got a Rage Quit to do so I won't be long, I'm going into the other office they got set up so other people can work while I yell but if you think you can handle it you're welcome to hang out with me." I look at the schedule on my computer. I've got a two hour window to get this done. She looks at me like I'm dumb. 

"You're yelling is hardly something I'd have to be able to handle. You've clearly never met my mother." She chuckles. "It's funny as long as it isn't you she's pissed at." 

I laugh and shake my head. Guess she's familiar with Rage Quit. "So you gonna hang out or are you good?"

"Probably safer to stick close to you. No one around here seems to mess with you. Not even Geoff goes at it too much." She comments.

"Tends to happen when you're the Alpha." I say uncomfortably. Her ears perk up, apparently no one told her. 

"Huh, would have thought that'd be Geoff." She thinks for a minute. "Kind of fits you too though I guess." 

I shrug and then jump as my phone goes off on the desk. I rub my face with my hand and check it. It's Geoff. 

"Hey man, we have a problem." Is all it says and I rest my face in my hands. 

"Where, what is it, and why is it something you need me for?" I text back as Rose watches me with a look of concern. 

"Ray, Burnie's office, wolf thing." Is what I get back. 

"Hey, come on." I say to Rose. She cocks an eyebrow. "Something is going on with Ray that I've got to deal with and I figured you'd probably better come with me rather than stay here by yourself where people can fuck with you." She nods quickly and follows me out of the office. I head up to Burnie's office to find Burnie standing outside the door looking completely unimpressed. Geoff opens the door and ushers me in. I pull Rose with me and she kind of almost meows in surprise. I step inside to see Ray in Wolf form, cowering in the corner. I hear a gasp from Rose.

"What the hell is going on?" I ask Geoff. 

"Best we can figure out is something scared him pretty bad and now he can't calm down enough to shift back." He shrugs holding one of the Wolf blankets. Rose takes it from him and moves toward Ray. I try to catch her hand but she's faster than me by a fraction of a second. 

She's approaches him carefully, draping the blanket over him and then kneeling beside him. She runs a gentle hand over his head, stroking the fur. She leans into him and I hear a soft sound that I can't quite name. He starts to relax and I try to figure out what she's doing. Geoff and I watch in amazement as after a minute or so he shifts back and pulls the blanket tight around him. He looks up at her and smiles weakly. She moves away from him, looking to me to figure out what happened.

"Alright, I don't know what the fuck you just did but now that we've got human Ray back, what the hell happened?" I ask Ray, still trying to figure out what she just did.

"Exactly what Geoff said happened, I don't know what the hell it was but it flitted at the edge of my vision and scared the hell out of me." He looks at me worriedly. "And how do you not know what she did? It wasn't real quiet."

"From over here it was." I sigh looking between them.

"She started purring really loud." He says like it's obvious. I arch an eyebrow at her.

"You can't tell me a purring cat isn't comforting and relaxing. Between the vibrating and the noise it's like the most soothing thing in the world." She throws her hands up in defense and I honestly can't disagree. I nod at the realization that it makes sense. 

"Good thinking Rose." Geoff praises her and I nod in agreement. 

"Speaking of cat things, Geoff when I came into the office earlier someone had tied her tail up in the biggest mess of yarn I've ever seen when she wasn't paying attention. I had to cut it up to get her out without hurting her." I tell him and watch as his eyes widen and his face takes on a terrifying expression. I almost pity the poor bastard that did it. Almost. He looks at Rose who simply looks at the floor and nods. 

"Thank you for helping her Michael, and for letting me know. When I get my hands on whoever did it they're gonna be sorry." He growls.

"We figure it may have been meant as a harmless prank by someone who didn't know the danger it posed to her." I say and I hear Ray growling softly in the corner. 

"Either way that's unacceptable, what if she'd gotten seriously hurt?" Ray spits, still clutching his blanket. 

I throw my hands up. "We need to figure out who did it and I thought because Hybrids aren't generally something most people know a lot about, despite them being the only Supernaturals that can't really hide, that we should find some information on them and have it around the office. Educate people so that when they try to involve her in the games and shenanigans they can do so without hurting her." Geoff thinks for a minute before looking at her and nodding.  


"It'd be easier than saying no pranks on her, which would be hard to enforce and leave her out of a lot. Okay, Michael, it's your idea so you can help me, Barb, and Rose do it." He says firmly. 

"Sounds fair." I nod, "Now Ray you need to get dressed, I'll grab your spare pants from your desk and get you a shirt from the store." I say. "Rose until we find out who did it I think it'd be best if you weren't ever alone. We think it was a prank but we could be wrong. Do you still want to hang out with me while I record Rage Quit?" I ask uncertainly but she nods enthusiastically. "Ok, Ray we'll figure out whatever it was that scared you too. It could have been several things." I look around at everyone. "I'll be back in a second with Ray's clothes and then we can go record." I head out the door.


	7. Worry and Cats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael worries and Gav deals with a trolling cat...

I sit on my couch looking through information on Hybrids, sifting through to find things relevant to cats. Gavin is playing with our cats on the floor with a laser pointer. I chuckle as I watch them. 

No one would own up to what happened to Rose. Whether that's because they're afraid of Geoff or what we aren't a hundred percent sure. We thought he acted like a father to Gavin but for some reason he's a fiercely protective father with her. Barb says it's because she's a girl and because she's younger than Gav. I've recently been informed she's only like 22 or something. Ray thinks it was Caleb but the guy denies it, says he knows what that could have done, he had a Hybrid as a friend growing up according to him. 

I go back to reading but I'm starting to get a headache. I've learned that Hybrids come in four basic types. Felines, which is any type of cat both domestic and wild. Canines, the same as felines but with dogs, there's one branch group that is rare and often strongly disliked and often mistreated, the Lupins or Wolf Hybrids. There is the Avians, or birds. And last there is the Fauns or deer Hybrids. Those are the Hybrids that exist, no one can say why only those types and not all animals but there are some animals I wouldn't want to see a Hybrid of. 

I set my laptop aside and rub my neck. Gav notices and comes over to sit with me. He swats my hands away and makes me turn and lean against him so he can massage my neck and shoulders. He likes to do that for some reason and I'm not about to argue it. He goes to work kneading at the muscles and joints. I rest my head against his shoulder and close my eyes. It feels really good. I hum in appreciation and hear him chuckle. I tilt my head to look up at him. He smiles and kisses my forehead. Once he's done with my neck and shoulders I sit up. He moves to snuggle into my side and I wrap my arm around him. 

"You doing okay, boi?" He asks looking up at me.

"Yeah I'm fine, just worried." I says quietly. 

"About what?" He asks, pushing into me a little. 

"Rose, whatever scared Ray, the Pack. There's a few things." I sigh and rest my chin on top of his head. 

"When we met Rose I didn't think you two would get along but you seem to be fine together." He laughs at the thought.

"I thought the same but she's not bad." I say against his head.

"The Pack will be fine, they seem to be doing pretty good." He reasons and I nod. He's not wrong, they have all been adjusting pretty well. "And we'll find whatever scared Ray." He moves so he can kiss me on the cheek. I look down at him and press my lips to his. He smiles into it and moves so he can deepen the kiss, sitting up and turning to face me before kissing me again. I pull him into my lap earning a small squeal as I pick him up to move him. He straddles my lap and tangles his finger in my hair. I moan at the amazing feeling of him kissing me and run my hands up his legs. 

The moment doesn't last, however, as Nightshade picks that exact moment to pounce at us. She smacks into the side of Gavin, who squawks and falls over onto the couch trying to get away from his attacker. She sits in my lap trying to look innocent. I furrow my brow and look over at her food bowl, which is empty. I glare at her.

"Really? You're such a brat." I snicker as Gav wiggles into a sitting position. 

"Bloody psycho cat." He grumbles. I get up and put food in her dish. She rubs against my legs.

"Oh, now you're happy?" I say and she just sits there and looks at me. I pat her head and leave her to eat. Gav is pouting, sitting cross legged with his arms folded over his chest. "Awe now you're upset with me?"

"Not you. 'Shade." He looks at her. It's not the first time she's pounced at him like that. 

"You know she loves you she's just not used to having to share me with anyone yet." I sit beside him and pull him towards me. I wrap both arms around him and hold him so he can't move. He manages to tilt his head enough to kiss my jaw. "How does pizza for dinner sound?" I offer. 

"Sounds good." He says relaxing and sounding less pouty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well guess whose back to writing full time! that'd be me, yes I'm back, no more waiting weeks for new updates I'm officially back to writing all the time <3 it may take me a day or two to really get back into the swing of actually writing and doing stuff in general but it'll happen, in the mean time I hope you enjoyed this short chapter.


	8. Missing Snowman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone fucks with Geoff...probably not a smart thing to do....just saying....

"Alright assholes this is not even remotely funny." Geoff growls.

We all look up to see what got him upset but can't find anything wrong.

"What Geoff?" Gavin asks.

"No not you, you wouldn't have done it. I know that for a fact this time." Geoff shakes his head and shushes Gav.

"Ok well what happened?" I speak up.

"Which one of you fucks stole my fucking snowman?" He says, a snarl straining in his voice. Eyes go wide all around the room. Who would even be brave enough to fuck with that little snowman? Gavin wouldn't because he made it for Geoff. It was a real snowman but was spelled not to melt. I wouldn't because that'd upset Geoff and Gavin. Rose loves Geoff too much to piss him off like that. Jack doesn't usually participate in stuff like that especially when it's directed at Geoff, he usually tells us not to because we're idiots and he knows Geoff will tear us apart. No one says anything and you can almost see Geoff getting ready to explode.

"I don't think anyone here would, we all know better." Ryan pipes up. Geoff just glares. Clearly very upset that the snowman is missing.

"Well someone fucking did." He growls. I roll my eyes and stand up. I hate doing this.

"Geoffrey! Enough!" I command, letting the Alpha tone slip into my voice. "Calm down. We'll find it and whoever took it. But I doubt anyone in here is stupid enough to touch it, we all know how you feel about the snowman and we are all aware a new Wolf's emotions are like this." I say sternly and Geoff's ass hits his chair. "Now when did you last see it and where was it?" 

He takes a deep breathe before speaking. "I saw it when I got here this morning, in its bowl on my desk where it always is." I look and see the bowl is still there.

"Ok so, other than the eight of us, who has been in here since then?" I ask.

"Burnie for a second but he didn't come past the door. Lil J, Kerry, and Caleb were for a while. Barb. And Meg." Jack lists.

"Wouldn't have been Meg. She knows better as well as us." Ryan says, he must have made sure she knew.

"Ok, so bring me Jeremy, Kerry, Caleb, and Barb and we'll see if I can't get the culprit to confess." I say. Ray and Ryan nod before leaving the room. About five minutes of tense silence later Ryan comes back with Jeremy and Caleb in tow, holding them by the arms. Ray comes back with a whipped looking Kerry and a confused Barb trailing after him.

"Alright you four. You're all aware of the little snowman that sits on Geoff's desk." They all nod and look. Then they see Geoff, who is currently pouting in his chair. "Did one of you fuck with his snowman? And god help you if you lie because I have an upset Geoff I will unleash on you." Each of them quickly shakes their heads. 

"Well then who else has been in here?" Geoff grumbles. They all shrug and at that exact moment Ray jumps a foot in the air and falls into Geoff's lap.

"What the fuck?" I holler at him.

"The thing!" He says pointing under the desks. "I saw the thing out of the corner of my eye." He yelps. I look and see nothing. Then I pause. Things have been fucking up all week, stuff going missing, the incident with Rose, Geoff's snowman, Ray. 

"Oh for fuck sakes." I throw my hands up. "Get out here you little vermin or I swear I'll burn you to a crisp when I get my hands on you, and trust me I will." I growl menacingly. A small creature pokes it's head out from under my desk. It's a mean looking little thing but it's shaking in fear. It's a murky green colour, and looks like a small child but it's features are twisted. It's got insect-like wings sprouting from it's back and claws on long bony fingers. It peers at me.  
Geoff growls and the thing jumps. I shoot him a shut the fuck up look and he cuts off mid-growl.

"That's what I thought, a pixie, tricky little things that live to be a pain in the ass and can only be seen head on if they want to be, otherwise you might be able to catch them out of the corner of your eye." I say, the others stare at it. "You the one that's been fucking with us?" I demand. It nods and cowers. "Where is Geoff's snowman?" It holds it hand out to Geoff and the snowman materializes. Geoff hesitates only a second before taking it and putting it back where it goes. 

"Don't ever touch that again or I'll wring your scrawny neck." He growls at it and nods as it whimpers and hides under the desk.

"I believe there is a Feline you owe an apology to as well. And a Wolf you've scared a few times." I gesture to Rose and Ray. The pixie looks at Rose, who is simply watching it with an expression of distaste.

It holds out it's hand and materializes a small black crystal rose on a silver chain. "A charm to ward off any of my kind who mean you harm." It says in a raspy high pitched voice. She takes it in her hand. And looks at me.

"Pixies deal in riddles, gifts, and favours. It should be safe, this thing doesn't want to piss us off." I say and she nods before fastening it around her neck.

It steps toward Ray and again holds out it's hand to materialize something. A simple silver band with an engraving on it appears. "To keep any of my kind from sneaking up on you, it'll allow you to see us through the glamour." It hands it to Ray who slips it on carefully. The engraving is a series of Celtic knots.

"Alright now why are you even here? Your kind prefer rural areas." I demand and it cowers again. I roll my eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you." 

It straightens up. "There's a lot magick energy gathering here. All manner of magick creatures are being drawn here." 

"What changed to make this a hot spot now?" I ask pondering it.

"I heard there'd been a battle, the balance is upset. A great darkness destroyed, now there is only light and all manner of dark or mischievous creatures are drawn here to restore the balance." It says watching our reactions.

"That prick that changed us." Geoff says and I nod. That's gotta be it. 

"Do you have a name Creature?" I ask. 

"Not one in this language, nor any language you could pronounce. Nor does my name translate very well." It says looking at each of us.

"Do you want to pick one or should we give you one?" Jack offers.

"It would be best if you picked one." It replies. 

"Well..." Jack trails off, we all look at one another. "Are you male or female?" He asks, hoping to make naming it easier.

"I am female. Can you not tell?" She sounds almost offended. 

"None of us are familiar enough with your kind to know how to tell." Jack says calmly. He looks at Ray and Rose. "What about Jewel? You seem to favour making jewelry." He offers. She ponders the name for a minute before shaking her head. 

"Or Crystal?" Ryan offers. She immediately shakes her head at that one. "Can you tell us what your name means roughly so we can have an idea? It doesn't have to translate perfectly, just a rough equivalent." 

"The name I was born under would mean something like ugly one who is born among the flower field but who creates beauty. I was born on the edge of a forest in a field of wildflowers but I am not pretty like the others. I was born twisted but with the gift to materializes pretty objects." She says sadly. 

"What about Thorne?" Rose offers and Gavin nods in agreement. 

"You've certainly been a thorn in the side since you got here. And Rose was your first target. A thorn is typically the annoying thing accompanying the rose." Geoff says with a smile. She considers it and nods.

"Okay then, Thorne, do you actually plan to stick around?" I ask her and she looks at me like I'm insane.

"You'd allow me to?" Her shock colours her voice.

"With some conditions, I don't see why you couldn't stay." I look to Geoff, who shrugs.

"What would you ask of me?" She asks curiously. 

"For starters, no glamour. We should be able to see you." I say, everyone nods in agreement. 

"That's reasonable." She nods.

"Second, I know you like to play jokes but perhaps keep it to a minimum and don't do anything that could hurt anyone." I sigh, knowing there's no way I could just say no pranks at all.

"Of course." She agrees. "I wouldn't intentionally hurt anyone anyway. I am sorry about your tail my Lady." She says to Rose who arches an eyebrow at the title. 

"My Lady?" She voices her curiosity.

"I've heard you called the Mad Queen. I assumed that meant something. I don't usually listen to your names and have only caught pieces." Thorne says with a voice full of apology. "I've also heard you called the Mad King and you Mogar, which I've gathered to be a warrior's name." She gestures to me and Ryan.

"Those are nicknames the people who watch our videos use for us." I shake my head. "Her name is Rose."

"Like the flower?" She asks. Rose shakes her head.

"It's a short form for Rosaline." She sighs. "My mother liked that is sounded elegant, and it easily shortens to Rose."

"And you, warrior?" Thorne turns to me. 

"Michael. My name is Michael. The Mad King's name is Ryan." I tell her.

"And your partner?" She asks looking at Gavin. She's observant at least.

"Gavin. That's Gavin." I say. Her points to to Jack and Geoff. "The one whose snowman you stole is Geoff, he gets grumpy. The other one is Jack." She nods, taking in the names. 

"The young wolf?" She asks.

"That's Ray. And the other woman is Lindsay." I say. She looks at Lindsay who is perched behind Rose. I point to Jeremy, Kerry, Caleb, and Barb as I rhyme off their names. "That's it for this group, I think perhaps you should keep to this room, the rest of the building may not be as friendly." I think about her meeting Gus. Yeah, no, bad idea. "Others may come and go and you'll meet them as they do." 

She nods. "I can see the sense in it. I wouldn't want to upset the humans." 

"Good, now that we've got that sorted. I think Geoff and I should go talk to Burnie." I say and gesture towards the door. "I'm sure we've all got plenty to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay okay okay I know I'm a lazy piece of shit, I said I'd be posting more but I haven't been, here's a chapter, enjoy


	9. Ray's Crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray asks Michael for some advice....

Weeks pass without any major incidents. Rose and Thorne get used to the office together, becoming friends and often pranking Gavin together. One day I came in to find Rose clearing out a space under her desk, in which she proceeded to shove a nightstand with a large cupboard. It didn’t take long to figure out why once she put a cushion and blanket inside and some small christmas lights. Thorne had been sleeping on either Rose’s chair or mine until that and had almost been sat on a few times. 

I sit at my desk looking through a list of games Gavin gave me on the way to the office this morning, trying to pick one that looks like it’d be funny to do as a Play Pals. I’ve got it narrowed down to two that look acceptable when Ray flops into Gavin’s chair beside me with a loud huff. I look at him out of the corner of my eye, he looks distressed and annoyed but I decide to leave him be, if he wants to talk he will just start talking. He sits there for a few minutes and looks at the two games I’m comparing. 

“Michael, how’d you finally tell Gav you liked him?” He finally breaks the silence. I’m not sure where he is going with this but I’ll humour him for now. 

“Well after that first kiss it wasn’t something we could avoid talking about, he thought I actually hated him and I told him that I don’t, that that was crazy, and then he kissed me.” I watch as he makes a stupid face, remembering the day he walked in on Gav kissing me. “He came over to my place that night and we talked and I decided fuck it and just told him I had a thing for him.” 

“Really? That’s it?” his tone laced with disbelief.

“Yeah, that’s it. Why? What’s up, buddy?” I ask, abandoning my attempt at comparing stupid games. 

“It’s just….” he fumbles for words like I’ve never seen him do before. “I kind of….” he looks more and more distressed trying to form a whole sentence. 

“What? Spit it out?” I roll my eyes, never in all the time I’ve known Ray has he ever been this stuck for words. “You have a crush on someone? Dude, I hope it’s not me because Gavin will freeze your nuts to your asshole, just so you know.”

“Dude, no, as attractive as you are, you ain’t my cup of tea.” he laughs and makes a face.

I laugh. “Good, but you are into someone, so who is it?” I ask, and watch. For a minute he looks like he might actually respond coherently but Rose and Gavin walk into the room. 

“No Gavin, seriously you should give their songs a try.” Rose says before going to her desk to look for something. 

“I don’t know, doesn’t sound like my kind of thing, though I have to say I agree that one guy you showed me a picture of is actually kinda hot, and the lead singer has got to be one of the cutest human beings I’ve ever seen.” Gavin says. I pout at him and he laughs. “I said ‘one of’, calm down boi, you are THE cutest.” he kisses me and Rose chuckles. She grabs three CDs from the pile on her desk and heads for the door. Gav turns around and follows. 

“Okay, fine I’ll listen but..” he gets too far away for me to hear his argument. I shake my head and turn back to Ray. He’s looking at the floor with the most distressed look I’ve ever seen on his face. I look back at the door, Gavin and...Then it hits me and I smack my hand against my forehead. 

“Dude, Rose?” I ask and he looks up at me ever so slightly. “What are you afraid of? Don’t be a chicken shit, just ask her out.” 

“Dude, have you ever actually spent time with her?” he looks at me like I just told him to walk to the moon. 

“Uh, yeah, she’s cool.” I shrug. “Why?”

“She’s….I don’t know how to explain it man, she’s just that kind of person that you really don’t want to say anything stupid to because goddamn she’s fucking terrifying sometimes.” he looks at her desk. 

“Then why do you like her if she scares you?” I ask, it just sounds dumb to me. 

“I...she’s not like anyone I’ve ever met before…..Something about her...she’s scary but at the same time you can see in her eyes….when she talks about certain things or to certain people, she’s got a good heart. She’s strong and independent of others….that’s what makes her scary.” he struggles with the words, fighting to find the right ones. 

“I see, well either way you should just ask her out and see what happens, quit acting like a 13 year old girl with a crush.” I roll my eyes at him and he looks deflated. “Look, dude, you’re a Werewolf, are you really afraid of what a kitten could do to you?” 

He looks at me for a minute, then he looks at the door. He gets up and takes off and I just sit there and chuckle to myself. I’m actually not surprised he likes her. He’s not gone long before he walks back in and flops down in his chair looking utterly defeated. 

“What happened?” I ask curiously. That was way too quick for him to actually have asked her. He looks at me with an almost teary expression, he looks crushed. “Ray, buddy, what the fuck?” 

“Lindsay.” he mutters. 

“What did she do?” I ask, what could Lindsay have done? Lindsay would have encouraged him, she would have said the same thing I did if she talked to him. 

“I saw her and Lindsay making out.” he says, slumping against his desk. 

“Oh.” I sigh. Well that’d do it. “Shit, man, I’m sorry.” I say but he straightens up and pretends to be fine and before I can ask why I see Rose walk into the room with Lindsay. I look at Ray for a second then back at them. Lindsay whispers something to Rose and Rose laughs. Ray gets up and leaves silently. I turn to my computer and tune them out, shaking my head. I actually feel bad for Ray, honestly.

~~~~~

About a week later I sit in the kitchen eating some of the crackers I found in the cupboard. Lindsay and Rose are sitting at the next table debating something. The quality of one album versus another from some band Rose likes. Kerry walks in the room with his head down. He walks directly over to Rose and Lindsay and hands them what looks like $50 a piece. He shuffles away without ever even saying a word. 

“What the hell was that about?” I say out loud without realizing it. 

“He lost a bet cause he’s an idiot.” Lindsay says smiling mischievously. 

“Do I want to know what the bet was about?” I ask, turning toward them and actually paying attention now. 

“Like, what was it? Last week?” Rose asks and Lindsay nods. “Yeah, last week, I don’t know how the topic even came up but Kerry bet me and Lindsay each $50 that we didn’t have the guts to make out in public at work.” 

“He totally underestimated us and how much we really don’t give a shit.” Lindsay chimes in. 

“Wait a minute, last week…” I facepalm harder than I intend to as it hits me. “For fuck me sakes.” I storm out leaving the box of crackers on the table and the two women sitting there confused as all hell. I haul ass over to the Achievement Hunter office where only Gavin and Ray are in the room and both have headphones on. I walk right over to Ray and take his headphones off. 

“Hey, woah, dude what the fuck.” he squeals and flings his chair around to see who it is. 

“Shut the fuck up and listen to me. Last week, Lindsay and Rose,” I start but he cuts me off. 

“I don’t want to hear it, Michael.” he protests. I clamp my hand over his mouth.

“Ray, I said shut the fuck up and listen. It was a bet, Ray. Kerry bet them $50 a piece that they wouldn’t have the guts to make out in public at work. I just watched him pay up and they told me about it.” I say and his eyes go wide. “Go fucking ask her out or you’ll need my foot surgically removed from your ass I’ll kick it so hard.” I say sternly and let go of him. He immediately hauls ass out of the room and Gavin turns around to look at me. 

“What in the bloody hell was that about, boi?” He says taking off his headphones. 

“Just me kicking Ray’s chicken shit ass into gear so he’ll quit moping around.” I grin and sit down in Ray’s chair. Gavin shakes his head and laughs to himself as he turns around and goes back to what he was working on. I get up and kiss his cheek before sitting in my own chair. He smiles at me and continues working.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been like forever since I updated this one last, I'm sorry, but don't worry I haven't given up on it...Will be updating more now hopefully.


	10. Fur and Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shit hits the fan.....nuff said

I rub my eyes against the damn light shining in through the window and roll over. I roll right into Gavin, who just grumbles and grabs at my arm. He pulls it around him and hugs it. I snicker and pull him against my chest. 

“Morning, Gav.” I say quietly. He squirms and rolls over, burying his face against my neck. He tries to say something but it gets muffled and I don’t quite hear him. “What was that?” 

He tilts his head upward a bit. “Morning, love.” I kiss the top of his head and he smiles at me sleepily. He moves so he is propped up on his elbow and kisses me. I smile and kiss back but groan in frustration when his squawking ringtone goes off at the same time as my phone blares the army tune ringtone I have set for Geoff. 

“What the fuck?” I growl as I reach over and grab my phone to check it. Gavin squeals in distress as he reads whatever his phone says and jumps out of bed. I open the message. ‘Michael get to office ASAP Thorne and Rose are MIA, Ray is losing his shit, doesn’t look good.’ “Shit!” I yell as I hop out of bed and get dressed. Gavin is dressed and putting his shoes on as I get to the front door. I slip on my shoes, grab my keys and wallet, and head out the door with Gav in tow. 

~~~~~

I swear I probably run every red light on my way to the office but when I pull into the parking lot and run inside to the AH office I don’t regret it one ounce. Ray is a mess in the corner, freaking out and on the edge of shifting. Lindsay is trying to comfort him. I look around. Rose’s desk is a mess, her stuff is not neat like it usually is and Thorne’s cupboard is knocked right over. There is blood on the floor and tufts of what looks like Rose’s fur. 

“What in the hell happened here?” I ask Geoff who is standing near Ray, looking almost as distraught, holding Rose’s Canadian Flag in his hands. The stick is broken. 

“We don’t know, Rose was supposed to be here early today. She was bringing breakfast for Thorne and going to set up today’s GTA Let’s Play for the heist.” Geoff chokes on almost every word. I hear a gasp behind me and look to see Griffon standing there. She looks at the floor in horror. 

I look from the floor to Geoff, to Ray. Others start to file into the room. Ryan and Jack look at the room in distress, while Gus and Miles hesitate to even enter. I look at them for a second. 

“Okay, look, Werewolves can track. We can follow a scent or an energy trail. This blood could belong to Rose or Thorne, or whoever took them.” I say trying to keep my voice calm. “Ray and Geoff will stay here though, Lindsay take them out of this room, just go sit with them in the conference room or something.” she nods and gets Ray to go with her. Griffon takes Geoff’s hand and follows Lindsay. “Gus and Miles you can track with me. Jack you see if you can figure out what happened here. Ryan….” I hesitate looking at Gav. “and Gavin….we are gonna need backup with opposable thumbs probably so you two come with us too, you both have strong element magick you can use.” They all nod and Ryan gives me a reassuring look, he will look after my boi for me. 

The wolves split up to shift and we come back to catch the scent of the blood. I catch it almost immediately and wait for Gus and Miles to pick it up. When they do they take off after it and I follow. Ryan grabs Gavin and runs outside. Ryan brought his motorcycle to work today apparently. They manage to keep up with us but don’t follow too closely. I stop for a second to double check which way we are supposed to be going. Gus and Miles are a bit off course so I let out a sharp bark to catch their attention before correcting them. 

We run for what seems like forever, Ryan and Gavin following on the nearby road. At one point I lose them for a bit but they pass a couple vehicles to catch up. I come to a skidding stop as the scent gets stronger and I see where we are. Gus slams right into the back of me, knocking me forward so I get a mouthful of the gravel we are standing on. I spit it out and look at him with the purest ‘what the fuck’ look my wolven face can manage. He looks at the ground and nudges my neck in apology. I roll my eyes. Miles stands beside us as we untangle and regain composure. 

I look up at the all too familiar warehouse, or what’s left of it anyway, the same one where these guys became wolves. I look around the ruins carefully, Gus and Miles begin nosing around too. I spot a disturbance in the dust and ash and filth on the ground off to the side. I step closer, making a quiet noise to alert the other two. There is a part of the floor that is covered in footsteps and a heavy iron trapdoor. Ryan and Gavin come up behind us cautiously. 

I look at Ryan and he looks frustrated. It doesn’t take long to figure out why when I see two more wolves behind him. “They refused to stay behind while Rose isn’t safe.” he sighs heavily. I look at Ray and Geoff, rolling my eyes and heaving a sigh. Ray steps up toward me and leans into my leg, I push back gently. He just finally got her, now he’s afraid he’ll lose her. They’d only been together a couple weeks. I step toward the door and look at Ryan, asking with my eyes as best as I can for him to open the damn thing. 

He heaves it open and when he does I am relieved to see stairs instead of a ladder. I cautiously walk down them, letting my eyes adjust to the dark down here. We end up in a concrete hallway. The end seems to be dimly lit. The hallway itself is narrow, only leaving a half foot on either side of my shoulders. I start to notice drops of dark blood on the floor. The hall opens up into what looks like a storage area but I immediately regret having walked into it. 

Rose lays in a heap on the floor, unconscious, with Thorne piled onto her side. Neither of them seems to be the source of the blood, thank god, but neither are they unmarked. I hear something go hurdling past my head and I jump, looking around for the source of the object and what it even was. Both are easily answered. The woman standing beside Rose and Thorne with the psychotic look in her eyes and a grin that would send the bravest of demons for the hills. I say woman but she’s really not, she’s simply obviously female. She is a pixie, a large and ugly one at that. She sneers at me and the others. Watching us carefully. The thing she threw was, in fact, a brick that had become loose from a wall. 

Before I even have a chance to decide how to approach this Ray spots Rose and lunges forward. All hell breaks loose. Ryan and Gavin make it a priority to get the girls out of the way. As they try to move them Thorne wakes up. She immediately jumps away from Gavin and runs toward Ray and the other Pixie. I lunge forward to join the fray and notice that the other Pixie has retractable claws that she’s dug right into Ray’s side. He’s whining against the pain and snapping at her throat with his teeth but not quite reaching his mark as she pushes deeper. I wrap my jaw around her throat and squeeze until she lets go of him, screaming and thrashing. Trying to catch me with her claws. Geoff slams into her, tearing into her body with his teeth, holding her. I relax my jaw only to snap it shut, crushing everything in her neck, she died screaming and bleeding, from her throat, Geoff’s bite, and the deep claw marks in her back that I can only guess are from Rose. She spasms as life leaves her body and her arms jerk out sending her claws into my leg. I growl and drop her. 

I look at my leg, it’s not deep thank god. I look up at the sound of more screaming. I’m not the only one she got. Thorne is standing there completely impaled by the claws on her other hand. Rose is also awake now and crying out for Ray but Ryan has his arms wrapped tightly around her despite her nails tearing at him. She hisses and screams wanting only one thing, Ray. It’s a painful sight. Gav takes off his button up shirt and wraps it carefully around my waist to cover most of my everything. I shift and move toward Ray. He has already involuntarily shifted back and is desperately trying to stop his chest from bleeding. I put my arms under him and pick him up, keeping my weight off my back leg. Geoff steps forward, allowing me to lay Ray on his back. Ryan picks up Rose who is still fighting against him. Gus gently picks up Thorne’s tiny body with his mouth, careful not to puncture her skin with his teeth but it’s evident she’s already gone. We immediately make for the exit, wanting to be back at the office. Gavin helps me support my own weight.


	11. Brown Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ......I got nothing for this one....

As we get into the office people the chaos begins. Miles shifts and grabs a blanket, heading for Meg and Barb. The rest of us conviene back in the AH office. Gus gently lays Thorne in her knocked over cupboard. I check her pulse and confirm that she is indeed dead. Ryan simply sits on the floor, landing on his ass hard and taking Rose with him. He cradles her in his lap and strokes her hair trying to calm her. Geoff lays Ray on the couch and shifts, grabbing a blanket for himself and Ray. Meg and Barb come running into the room with Jack in tow. They huddle around Ray, trying to help him. I get a good look at him finally and can feel the colour leave my face. His chest is destroyed, torn apart and bleeding heavily. He, himself, looks pale and his face is contorted in pain. 

Gavin kisses my jaw and hugs me resting his head on my shoulder. I absently wrap my arms around him. 

We stand there for what seems like forever. Ryan eventually calms Rose and she slumps into him. It isn’t until the point when Barb walks out of the room with blood soaked hands and tear soaked eyes that any of us really does anything, letting them work on Ray. He continues to groan and cry out in pain. 

My head snaps up when he starts coughing uncontrollably. He coughs up blood, his body lifting off the couch with each cough that wracks through him until he falls still and Meg looks at Jack and cries. He hugs her, tears visible in his eyes as well. Rose cries out again, this time breaking free of Ryan and running over to Ray’s side. Gavin cries into my shoulder and I feel tears burn my cheeks. Ryan moves to hold Rose again and this time she falls against him. The sound of her cries is painful, the cat side of her demanding to be heard. The yowling cries are almost lost in a clamour of noise as Burnie comes rushing into the room with Lindsay and Griffon. 

~~~~~

The funeral is attended by many people. Ryan stands beside me and Gavin, Meg and Rose tucked into either side of him. Rose, for the first time since I met her, is wearing the black beanie she always carries in her back pocket to cover her ears. Her face is almost numb and empty, having reached beyond the point of pain by now. Ray’s mother flew in from New York and now stands over her son’s coffin placing a red rose on top of it. 

We buried Thorne outside the office, in the field behind the parking lot. Gavin made a marker for her out of enchanted ice so it would look like diamond and never melt. He also made it so it cannot be moved. 

I look at the others and feel my eyes burn again. Ray’s mother steps away from his coffin and steps toward me. She holds out her hands to me. Gav let’s go of me and I take her small hands in mine. 

“I don’t know much about Werewolves but Ray loved being part of the pack, he said you were his Alpha. I want you to have this.” she says and presses something into my hand. She hugs me quickly and goes over to hug Rose. I look in my hand and see the leather bracelet he wore, it’s worn and soft and the wooden beads are losing their colour. I slip onto my wrist and fasten it in place. Gavin takes my hand in his. 

~~~~~

In the weeks following Ray’s death the fans lose their shit, demanding to know what happened but we have to tell them it was an accident and leave it at that. Rose becomes withdrawn and things fall apart at the office. Geoff doesn’t harass Gavin like he normally would. Ryan’s evil side stays tucked away and quiet. Burnie has to clean off Ray’s desk because none of us can bring ourselves to do it. No one has the heart to replace him though. 

Rose eventually told us that the Pixie that attacked us did so because she was offended by Thorne being with us and taking a human name, living with us. She was offended by the mingling of the species’. My leg heals but there is a large scar that refuses to fade. There is a scar on Rose’s face as well, running from below her right eye straight down to just under her jaw. She doesn’t seem to take notice of it though so no one says anything. 

Griffon is a constant at the office, always bringing coffee and food. Sitting with Geoff whenever he is left on his own. Not letting him ever be alone. It’s easy to forget sometimes that we are family to Geoff, and that he’s essentially lost a son. 

Jack does his best to help Geoff, the two of them closer than they have ever been. When Griffon can’t be with him Jack takes her place. 

Gav makes every effort to comfort me but I feel like a hole has been punched into my chest. Ray was a close friend to me, a brother. I try to take to the comfort though, and return the favour, knowing full well my boi is hurting just as much as me. 

It’s months before anything changes. 

~~~~~

I’m sitting at my desk checking emails, I laugh at one from Lil J. He’s taken Ray’s place as the third Lad. People didn’t like the idea at first but now we’ve grown used to him. I open one from Gus as Rose bursts through the door, running to her desk, frantically flipping through her grimoire. She keeps a grimoire of spells and magick knowledge. She falls to her knees with the book in her hand open to a page. I get up and look over her shoulder. It’s a resurrection spell. 

“Rose…” I hesitate. “Please tell me you didn’t….” I beg her. 

“I didn’t, I would never...it wouldn’t be him.” she sobs. “But I went to leave a rose on his grave like I always do and….” she chokes back the tears.

“What?” I prod further, mind trying to come up with what could have happened. 

“He’s gone….” she breathes out. “His grave is all dug up and tore apart and his coffin is open and empty. He’s gone, Michael.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is not entirely my fault so don't hate me! Just wait for the next one ok! CHILL!


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